1-yr-old falls into pit, rescued

After four-year-old Mahi fell to her death in an illegally dug 68-feet borewell pit on June 20, a one-and-a-half year old child, Sachin, slipped and fell into an unattended and open 20-feet pit in Chauma village near Palam Vihar on Sunday evening.

The pit was dug as part of a World Bank-aided project, high voltage distribution system (HVDS), undertaken by the discom Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN).

Fortunately, the boy — the son of a mason — got timely assistance and was brought out alive after a two-hour rescue operation undertaken primarily by the local people.

Shockingly, the victim fell into one of the seven such pits dug up by the DHBVN contractor for dropping earth wires.

This is the same contractor who was earlier held guilty of negligence after a man was electrocuted, DHBVN chief engineer, SS Gupta said.

"Recently, the same contractor was issued a strict warning on safety measures after the Mahi incident. It is his second case of negligence," he added.

The incident took place at 6.45pm, when Sachin was loitering around with his mother and accidentally fell into the pit, near their rented hutments.

A close relative of the family Jaswant Singh said, "We immediately informed the police, who reached the spot after 30 minutes. The local people jumped into action and the administration joined the rescue work later with oxygen kits and other paraphernalia."

The child could be rescued from the pit at about 9.30pm with no injuries and was admitted in the Civil Hospital for recovery, under doctors observation.

Rescue workers were able to see the child with the help of a CCTV camera, which was installed by electronics surveillance expert Devender Kaushik, who had assisted the Army in the Mahi case as well.

Gurgaon District Magistrate PC Meena said that an FIR had been lodged against the contractor, junior engineer and the sub divisional officer of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam.

"The services of both the officials have been suspended with immediate effect," Meena added.